Latin American Film Festival

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage month with five films from Latin America, receptions and community dialogue, the Festival de Cine Latinoamericano is a new initiative of the BW Spanish program, using the artistry of film to build relationships between the BW-Berea community and the Hispanic population of Cleveland’s West Side.

"¿Quién es Dayani Cristal?" (Who is Dayani Cristal?)

Deep in the sun-blistered Sonora desert beneath a cicada tree, Arizona border police discover a decomposing male body. Lifting a tattered T-shirt, they expose a tattoo that reads "Dayani Cristal." Who is this person? What brought him here? How did he die? And who—or what—is Dayani Cristal?

Following a team of dedicated forensic anthropologists from the Pima County Morgue in Arizona, director Marc Silver seeks to answer these questions and give this anonymous man an identity. As the forensic investigation unfolds, Mexican actor and activist Gael Garcia Bernal retraces the man's steps along the migrant trail in Central America. As he travels north, voices from the other side of the border wall give rare insight into the human stories, which are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

Winner of the Sundance 2013 Cinematography award and nominated in the World Documentary Competition, "Who Is Dayani Cristal?" shows how one life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration.

Community dialogue/discussion after the film.

The Festival de Cine Latinoamericano is made possible in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically.

This event is made possible with the support of Pragda, SPAIN arts & culture, and The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport of Spain.

Special thanks to Cleveland Cinemas, the Baldwin Wallace Hispanic American Student Association and Spanish Club.